The DDI-DExT Tools project’s primary objective was to produceda utility software for the conversion of statistical data files into an archive neutral format for long term preservation along with the option to re-package the data for dissemination to end users for use with various statistical packages. This initial effort was intended as a “proof-of-concept” tool to demonstrate the feasibility and sustainability of such approach. The development was conducted from June 2007 to February 2008 as a collaborative effort between the UK Data Archive (UKDA) and the Open Data Foundation (ODaF). This documentsummarizes the technical aspects and activities of the project. Conclusion is on page 13-14.

This document reports back from the DDI 3 workshop “Using DDI 3.0 to Support Preservation, Management, Access and Dissemination Systems for Social Science Data” held at the Schloss Dagstuhl in Germany in November 2007. It intends to present the DDI standard to repository managers, data librarians and data managers and provide background information to help them to examine how the DDI fits with developments in their institutional repositories for research-generated data. The report discusses the appropriateness of using the different DDI versions to address the requirements of research data in IRs. It brings together some of the key questions of the DataShare project with regards to access management, linking to other materials and versioning of datasets.

Part 1 of this briefing paper highlights some examples of new collaborative web services using Web 2.0 technologies which venture into the numeric data visualisation arena. These mashups allow researchers to upload and analyse their own data in ‘open’ and dynamic environments. Broadly speaking the numeric data being referred to could be micro-data (data about the individual), macro-data2 or country-level data, derived or summary data.

Part 2 investigates and showcase examples of spatial (or geographic) data mashups using Web 2.0 technologies and how they can be utilised in a research environment.

This Review has been undertaken to provide background information to inform the work of DataShare, to summarise and consolidate recent research and current policy relating to data sharing, and to identify knowledge gaps that may need to be addressed during the course of the project. It is also intended to inform the wider community, particularly librarians, of the current state-of-play.